Page 30 of If You Need Me

“No, you don’t. You are not allowed to put your lips on me when I’m at work. There needs to be boundaries. Gear up. Now.” I point in the direction of the locker room.

His lip curls in a way that’s all too familiar. It sparks a memory from our grade-eleven law class, one of the few we hadtogether. He always wore that infernal smile when I got up in front of the class for debates. “What is this look?”And why am I suddenly so flustered?

His eyes heat, and he runs his tongue along his top lip. “I fucking love it when you order me around.”

“Seriously. Go.” I give him my death stare.

He mouthsso hot, winks, and heads for the locker room.

I turn back to Hammer. “He’s such a pain in my ass.”

“He’s obsessed with you,” she says.

“He is not.” But he sure is doing a good job of playing the jealous boyfriend and making a scene.

She arches a brow. “Why didn’t I know you dated Eric until today?”

“It was a long time ago.”

“But you stayed friends,” she says.

I shrug. “There weren’t any hard feelings about the breakup. I moved back here, and he was in LA. It was never serious.”

“You are full of surprises lately, aren’t you?”

“Sort of like you were full of surprises a few months ago, huh?” I tease.

“Yeah, falling for my dad’s best friend was a thing there, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, but now that you’re together, it’s kind of impossible to imagine it any other way. Roman seems to be cool with things.”

“Dad’s definitely more relaxed. I think it helps that Hollis is pretty big on doting, and my dad sees it. Hopefully now that I’m settled in my career and have found love, he will too.”

“He needs someone to take care of him for a change,” I muse.

“He does. It’s been me and hockey for the past twenty-one years, and with the backup goalie coming in more this season, he needs something else to focus on.” Hammer sighs. “I’m just glad I still get to work with the team, you know? You’re my family, and I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”

“I feel the same way.” As much as Dallas being my fake boyfriend or people thinking I want his money is inconvenient,the alternative is far worse. If people found out it was all a lie, the embarrassment would be impossible to recover from. Not to mention the way it would impact the team. Which means I need to be extra convincing when I meet his parents. Too much is hinging on people believing in the lie of us.

When the final celebrity player has been checked in, we start to make our way to the arena, but Topher Guy stops me. “Hemi, there you are. I need to talk to you.”

Because I don’t have enough going on right now.I force a smile and turn to Hammer. “You go on without me.”

“Are you sure? I can wait.”

“It’s fine. I’ll be right behind you.”

She heads down the hall, and I exhale my annoyance and give my attention to Topher. “What can I do for you?”

“We need to discuss your use of the primary rink.”

“Sure. Why don’t you walk with me? I need to check in with hospitality. Because the charity game is set to start in…” I find a clock on the wall. “Forty-five minutes. And I don’t have a lot of time right now.”

“You know, if you were a little less”—he motions toward me—“you, you’d be easier to tolerate.”

I plaster on my fakest, brightest smile. “I need to be effective so that events like these run smoothly and bring positive press to our team, which is basically my job description. Now, what’s the issue with the primary rink?” I walk briskly down the hall toward the VIP suite. I don’t have time for this kind of shit today, especially not from Topher.

“You have it booked for the next four weeks for the women’s team.”

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